Resident Evil 2 remake review: Survival horror perfection

Labelling this new version of Capcom’s survival-horror classic a ‘remake’ somehow feels like an curious understatement. Resident Evil 2 is a thrilling return to the legacy of the 1998 original, no doubt, hewing close to its style, structure and the zombified tale of a city infected with a devastating virus.

But while it would be tempting to file this away as an unnecessary, even cynical, return to source; Resident Evil 2 is crafted with such gusto that it is as much a modern marvel as it is a nostalgia-fuelled horror trip

In its two-pronged campaign, you play as either rookie police officer Leon S Kennedy; finding his first-day in the Racoon City Police Department filled with grubby face-chewers, or Claire Redfield; a student searching for her special task force brother Chris. Bumping into each other at a zombie-filled gas stop, the pair make their way to the city’s police station before being separated; left to negotiate the former museum’s ornate hallways, locked doors and intricate baroque puzzles alone.

What a creation the station is; a stage so convincingly set that you can almost smell the blood spattered in its darkened hallways. It will conjure a sense of familiarity to Resident Evil stalwarts, but has been crafted with such texture and modern mod-cons that it will feel thrillingly new to even the most experienced of players.

It is thick with atmosphere and detail. The cavernous, brightly-lit main hall has been appropriated as a makeshift first-aid station. But, of course, all the beds are empty, the undead’s moans echoing towards the rafters, chairs and desks piled in front of the main doors. Venture into its bowels and the lights are out, your flashlight bouncing off walls covered in crimson Rorschach tests. The dead are everywhere, slumped in corners or over desks, while the undead smash against vending machines. Rain thunders against all-too-vulnerable windows, with rotten arms lurching out as you pass.

It is resplendent with horror that creates a constant sense of unease; that something truly terrible has happened here. And that’s before you even start to consider the myriad monsters that lurk in its shadows.

Much of Resident Evil 2’s milieu is created with the benefit of modern technology, of course, with the RE engine flexing its muscle in lighting and detail and binaural audio creating a genuinely spine-chilling soundscape of shuffling footsteps and inhuman shrieks. But key to it is that somewhat lost art of crafting a small, detailed and believably joined-up setting.

You will be spending the majority of your time with Resident Evil 2 in the station and its appendages and as you backtrack through its halls --unlocking ornate trick boxes with gemstones liberated from statues and activating secret underground passages with medallions-- you will start to get familiar with its quirks.

In an age of sprawling open-worlds, it is a genuine pleasure to acquaint yourself with a far more intimate environment. You will go from constantly checking the map, planning your next move and scrubbing off explored rooms, to knowing each creaky floorboard, blocked route and shortcut to a save point. A key skill, particularly during the times that certain indestructible git known as the Tyrant comes stomping through the hallways behind you.

At its heart, Resident Evil 2 remains a certain vintage of video game, which may prove a sticking point for some. Constantly juggling inventory between armament, first aid and essential gadgets and items; battling your way to a locked door you haven’t found the key to yet...

They are the kind of quirks specific to early day Resident Evil that perhaps not everyone will be on board with. But they are also essential to its particular brand of tension. As scary as Resident Evil 2 can be, there is little that compares to the horror of staggering your way through an army of the undead in critical condition, only to find you left the gear you needed in a storage trunk because you were low on shotgun shells.

There is a constant sense of jeopardy, in other words. While there are modern concessions --an easier ‘assist’ mode for beginners, unlimited saves and the odd checkpoint on normal-- Resident Evil 2 still plays to the ‘hardcore’ crowd with the option of the old-school ink ribbon system which limits your saves to physical items found in the game.

But while retaining some of that old ethos is key to Resident Evil 2’s success, it is equally adept at bringing itself up to date. The combat is brilliantly refined, with that Resident Evil 4 style viewpoint allowing you to pick shots with a deliciously crunchy payoff. Headshots connect with real viscera, with location-specific damage seeing flesh slewed off. Which only makes the zombies that shamble towards you regardless all the more horrifying.

Even those ‘basic’ zombies are terrifying, too, with a level of detail and individuality that make them the most convincing undead I’ve seen in a video game. Each missed shot adds a layer of panic and they are all a genuine threat, particularly if they are in a pack. More than a few times in my two playthroughs have I been concentrating on a tougher enemy and been blind-sided by a lurking zombie ready to chew my neck off.

That refinement doesn’t mean that Resident Evil 2 has been made into a Resi 4 style action game by any means, ammunition is limited and combat is often best avoided, but it does mean that gunplay is another string in the remake’s bow.

What it allows for is a terrific sense of pacing. The heart of the game is exploring that station, but Capcom are clever at dispatching new threats just when you might be letting your guard down. The infamous blind, skin-deprived Lickers are ferocious, scuttling over walls and ready to gobble you up in a few hits. You can endeavour to sneak past them without making a sound, but it is a risky, ludicrously stressful strategy to employ, particularly if there are other enemies shuffling in the background. Or the Tyrant comes thundering into view.

It’s when all these foes come down on you at once that Resident Evil 2 is at its most exquisitely terrifying; an unparalleled sense of panic as you try to wrest control of the situation without dumping all your ammo or just sprinting for the nearest door. (though, for the record, you can now be followed, zombies more than happy to bash down obstacles in their way).

It is terrifically paced between that heightened stress and more atmospheric exploration, while the game also times its more obvious breakaways well. Boss fights are often claustrophobic set-tos against grotesque monsters, given an edge by that combat, while both Leon and Claire’s campaigns have interludes in which you take control of enigmatic FBI agent Ada Wong or the young Sherry Birkin respectively. These are probably not the best sections of the game, but their mixture of environmental puzzling and an altogether different kind of horror are smartly timed palate cleansers.

They also help tie the wider narrative together. The writing and acting is sharper than the the original, of course, but finds plenty of space to ham it up when necessary. While there is a touch more depth to its characters than in the original, Resident Evil is B-movie schlock at its finest. “Chew on that you overgrown son of a b---h,” growls Leon as he explodes the top half of a giant alligator in a grungy sewer underneath the police station.

I’m not sure you would want it any other way. The silliness helps tie together Resident Evil 2’s combination of genuine terror with baroque puzzles and excessive action, making sure that it is frightening but always fun. It has always been the ethos that has made Resident Evil such an enduring survival-horror success for over twenty years. This remake captures it perfectly, but makes sure it has plenty of fresh tricks up its sleeve to ensure it has as much of an impact on the here and now.

What are your hopes and fears for Resident Evil 2 and what features do you hope the sequel retains from the original? Share your opinion by commenting below. To join the conversation, log in to your Telegraph account or register for free, here.